The morning of November 8, Tom headed into the town of Fulton to stock up on engine oil. He had to go alone and on my bike since we haven't had the chance to replace his tire that got bent up when he used his bike to successfully fend off six guys who jumped him while he was riding through South Chicago to get to work. Well, that's actually a much better story than the one I'm about to share but in an attempt to stay on topic it'll have to wait.

So anyways, being a Sunday morning and being Mississippi there wasn't much open so Tom whiled away an hour or so with his giant camping backpack (to carry all the oil) and yellow bike drinking a coffee in McDonald's awaiting for the only auto parts store to do business on Sunday in Fulton opened.

We left the anchorage considerably later than we had hoped but made it through another three locks

. We also helped to unground another sailboat who got stuck in three feet of water just outside the navigable channel. This was a feel-good moment for us to be able to return the favor from when were were hauled out of a mud back by another boat on day three of this trip.

That night, after a couple of near misses of running aground ourselves. we finally anchored at Blue Bluff Recreation Area, a very pretty spot just above Aberdeen Lock and Dam.

The next day (Nov 9), we awoke early to go explore the park and to get some exercise. After another 3 locks, and a passing view of the USS Snagboat Montgomery (in operation between 1926 and 1982), we finally entered the state of Alabama.